Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
“Yet you left your number,” I said under my breath.
“Regardless. And two, I am not fucking missing you eloping in the New Mexico mountains! Are you insane?”
I laughed. “Good. I really want you to be there.”
“But no one else? Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. We’ve spent so long worrying more about what our families would think than about what we wanted. I know things were rocky before. I thought that I might freak out, but the more I think about it, the more excited I am. This is what I want.”
“Without your family?”
I nudged her in the arm. “We can have another ceremony or reception here after. We want this to just be us. I don’t want to have to deal with the drama. I love him. We want to get married. We’re doing it.”
“Okay,” she said with a shrug. “Well, I’m here for new, impulsive Harley. Let’s get you hitched.”
“Which is another reason I called you.” I bit my lip uncertainly. “I need a dress.”
“Ohhh,” Bailey said. “Oh my God, you want me to go wedding dress shopping with you?”
“Would you?”
“I was made for this. You have to try on every single one in the store.”
“I will try on everything that is in my size because we don’t have time to get it altered…since we’re leaving today.”
Bailey sputtered, “Today!”
“Yeah. If you’re free…”
“Fuck yes! Let’s do it!”
After an hour of trying on so many dresses that I’d lost count, I finally walked out of the store with the perfect dress. I held it against my chest reverently as we walked back to the car.
“Chase is going to die,” Bailey said.
“I can’t believe this was on sale, too,” I said, hugging the bag tighter. “What a steal.”
“It was meant to be.” Bailey held up her own dress. “And something for me, too.”
“Yes, my maid of honor.”
Bailey’s wide smile was the best result. We piled our dresses into the cars and promised to meet at Chase’s within the hour, ready to leave for the mountains. I kept glancing back at the dress in the rearview mirror as I drove back to the house.
I carried it inside like it was made out of glass, and Chase stalled at the sight of it.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“Yes, and you can’t see it until tomorrow.”
“You found what you were looking for?”
“You’ll have to wait and see,” I teased. “I need to pack.”
“Can I get a sneak peek?”
He reached for the dress, and I jerked it away from him.
“Absolutely not.”
He laughed. “Fair. I won’t peek. I want my first look to be you walking down the aisle to me.”
I melted at that, leaning in for a kiss. “You better be packed and ready. Bailey agreed to come with. Have you definitely heard from Blake?”
“I did. He got his sister, Ivy, working on it. He said not to worry about a thing, that they’d have it handled.”
“Okay. I guess I am not worrying about a thing, except packing.”
He pressed a kiss to my lips, pulling me in close. “If you’re quick, we can have a quickie before we go.”
“Oh no,” I said. I slid out of his arms. “Don’t you know you’re not supposed to have sex before the wedding?”
He blinked at me. “We’ve been having sex for three years.”
“Well then, you can wait one night,” I teased.
“You’re trying to torture me.”
“Nope! I want you to want me so badly that we have wild wedding night sex.”
He chuckled. “And you think we won’t have that if you don’t abstain?”
“Fair,” I said with a shrug as I backed into the bedroom. “Guess we won’t find out.”
I heard his frustrated groan as I shut the door in his face. It was probably a stupid tradition, but we were doing literally everything else on our own terms. I wanted this one thing. Not because it was necessary or anything to do with virginity, which obviously had nothing to do with this situation. But just so it would be special. And he couldn’t change my mind.
Well, maybe he could. He was pretty persuasive with his tongue.
I shut down that line of thought and hurried to my closet to pack.
The drive into New Mexico was about four hours from Lubbock. Long enough that we were all tired and ready to crash by the time we got there. But not too long for most Texas drives. When everything was a four- or five-hour drive, you got used to it.
Blake met us at the entrance after we parked in the mostly empty parking lot. He was in a black suit and had a radiant smile on his stupid-pretty face. His dark hair was brushed back, and his big brown eyes were glittering with excitement.
Then, his gaze slid from me and Chase to Bailey, and he faltered. The smile stilling for a second as he realized who we’d brought with us. When I’d first met Blake, I’d assumed he wasn’t the kind of guy who could get sidelined by the appearance of a girl. Chase had always made him seem like the consummate playboy bachelor. And yet the way he was looking at Bailey right now showed that wasn’t entirely true. She threw him off-balance, and I liked it.